Days of Wine and Roses
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.49 You Save: $9.49 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.70 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Days of Wine and Roses
Movie Review: Great Film, Disappointing Commentary Track
Summary: 5 Stars
It's an excellent film, though I did find it a bit too self-consciously preachy at times, which I found took me out of the dramatic moment from time to time. This preachiness is somewhat amplified by being presented in the person of Jack Klugman, playing a recovering alcoholic. I have a great deal of respect for Klugman as an actor, but to me, his line deliveries do have a tendency to sound a bit strident and overly-intense to begin with -- even as Oscar Madison in Neil Simon's 'The Odd Couple'! -- so the already-preachy tone of some of the dialogue, placed into his mouth make the film almost seem to stop at points while a public service announcement is played out. This nitpick however, cannot diminish the overall dramatic power of the film, or its value in helping people to understand something of the tragedy of alcoholism.
The Director's Commentary track by Blake Edwards was really quite disappointing. Edwards freely admits to not having even watched the film since it was first made, so instead of being able to provide insightful commentary as the film proceeds, he frequently admits to (and apologizes for), long stretches of his own silence as he's swept up in the drama as an audience member. There is, however, about 8 minutes in, an interesting anecdote about a conversation he had with Jack Lemmon during shooting about their own drinking habits.
Movie Review: Lost Innocence...
Summary: 5 Stars
To say that I wish there were movies like this today is almost trite. True drama-the kind that grabs you and makes you think and feel and empathize is gone. "Days of Wine and Roses" is just such a film that will capture a wide range of emotions in the viewer.
The story seems simple enough. Man meets woman and booze and forms an unholy triangle of pain, despair, and desolation. But the way it all plays out is brilliant. It is a case study not only in addiction, but in love, whimsy, confusion, cruelty, and ultimately tragedy. Both Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick play their parts perfectly and are backed by a superb supporting cast.
There is something strangely haunting about this film. It stayed with me for a long while after I saw it. For me, watching it again is like watching it for the first time. I can't say the film is entertaining because that would cheapen it. To say it is informative would be too bland. It meets somewhere between those two points and weaves a poignant tapestry of a wide range of human emotions.
The music is beautiful and the direction is superb. This is a film that was made when drama meant something; When you felt the message and knew you had seen something extraordinary. Yes, it is that good.
Movie Review: An all-encompassing movie about alcoholism
Summary: 5 Stars
"Days of Wines and Roses" is head and shoulders above any other movies about alcoholism for many reasons, most of which can be summed up in the word "multidimensional". Instead of showing a snapshot in the life of an alcoholic, like "Lost Weekend", for example, "Days of Wines and Roses" follows the entire descent of not one, but two characters, into the depths of addiction. The interplay between man and woman and the progress of their relationship allows for the depiction of many aspects of alcoholism: the casual start; the discovery of a new pleasure; how one person can unwillingly lead another to become an alcoholic; the recovery; the belief that it is possible to have an occasional drink after recovery; the relapse; the different ways two people who love each other can deal with the problem and how they can influence one another for good or for bad. Everything is here. And the ending is astonishingly realistic. Instead of the usual message that everything will turn out fine in the end, the movie makes it clear that, once you become an alcoholic, the outcome is uncertain. You may or you may not recover. This is a powerful and poignant movie that has never been equaled. Recommended.Movie Review: PAINTS AND GRAPHIC PICTURE OF ALCOHOLISM!
Summary: 5 Stars
I never saw this film when I was young, but I found it to be truthful for the most part, although I am not an alcoholic I have known many. I have played in bands for 30 years and even though that doesn't mean your a drunk, it does expose you to bars and a party atmosphere. I am one of the lucky ones who could drink my friends under the table, but resume a normal life the next morning.
This film paints a true picture of how hard it is to kick this habit if you truly are an alcoholic! I have never seen such an extreme case, but I'm sure they exist. Lemmon and Remick give excellent performances in this dark tale of dependency and despair. I loved how it showed the characters saying one thing and doing another, which is so true to these diseased individuals. It's heartbreaking and hard to understand looking at it from the outside. The inner fight is constant and leaves the inflicted always aware they are one step away from "falling off the wagon". It is also a very good love story as these two kindered souls mates are each other's own worst enemy. It's a powerful film, well worth watching.
Movie Review: Skip the DVD version
Summary: 5 Stars
A classic, no doubt about it. But if you're buying the DVD version for anything but the widescreen effect, forget it. The "extras" consist of two versions of a self-congratulatory trailer (Jack Lemmon breaking character to expound on what a bold movie they'd made.) Meanwhile, the much-touted "interview" with Lemmon is a corny promotional device apparently aimed at local TV stations, with the actor, seen talking on the phone, rattling off answers to trite pre-scripted questions, giving the impression that he was actually having a phone interview with local TV personalities whose own images were later edited into the split-screen featurette.And the less said about director Blake Edwards' "commentary", the better.After explaining that he's not much good "at this kind of thing," Edwards proceeds to prove it in spades by confessing he hasn't seen the movie in 40 years, professing to be surprised when he realizes (10 minutes in!) that the film wasn't shot in color, then actually wonders aloud how audiences will be able to understand the plot if he keeps talking throughout the movie. Sad!